ENSTA

Generalist engineering degree (3 years)

Admission for the 2027 intake is mainly through competitive examinations. Students in classes préparatoires (CPGE) enter through the Concours commun Mines-Ponts, with up to three ENSTA choices on SCEI (Paris-Saclay, Brest, or Paris-Saclay by apprenticeship). Third-year Licence or Bachelor students in France apply through GEI-Univ for Year 1, and first-year Master students for Year 2, with a file, common written tests and ENSTA oral tests (specialty, English, motivation). BUT and ATS students apply through the competition run by ENSEA, for the apprenticeship route. A separate access route exists for high-level athletes and artists (SAHN), with an online file including proof of status, a recommendation letter, a motivation letter and transcripts.

Specialist engineering degrees

The Défense & Sécurité cycle is accessed through the Mines-Télécom competition from CPGE, or on file from Licence 3 and Master 1. The embedded systems and mechanical (naval architecture, pyrotechnic systems) apprenticeship degrees are accessed on file from CPGE, BUT/ATS or Licence 3. Holders of a Master 2 or an engineering degree may apply as auditeur libre for Year 3 at either campus, or to the mastère spécialisé and specialisation programmes.

International applicants

Applicants in a CPGE outside France may sit the Mines-Ponts competition. Students in the third year of scientific higher education outside France may apply for Year 1 (3-year programme); students in the fourth year (or with 240 ECTS credits) may apply for Year 2 (2-year programme). Students at partner universities (double degree) are nominated by their home university's international office and then apply on the dedicated platform; students from non-partner universities apply individually as free movers on the international admission platform. Exchange students for one or two semesters are nominated by their home institution. Admitted students are assigned to Brest or Paris-Saclay according to available places and their academic and career choices, announced with the admission results. Admitted non-French-speaking students follow an intensive French course of 4 to 6 weeks.

Doctorate

The doctorate is open after an engineering degree, a Master or an equivalent grade. It usually lasts three years in an ENSTA laboratory, sometimes partly in a company (CIFRE agreements), under one or more thesis supervisors and within a doctoral school (IP Paris doctoral school, SPIN, or Abbé Grégoire at CNAM for the humanities and social sciences).

• Paris-Saclay (Palaiseau, Île-de-France; head office): 828 Boulevard des Maréchaux, 91762 Palaiseau Cedex. The campus covers 6 hectares within the 164-hectare École polytechnique campus, less than 20 km from Paris. It has teaching buildings, a residence of five three-storey buildings with 425 studios and 5 apartments (guaranteed housing for first-year arrivals), a Zone 5 student space with a foyer and association rooms, a cafeteria in the school and access to the École polytechnique restaurant, a 1,734 m² gymnasium and shared École polytechnique sports facilities (pools, climbing walls, dojo, riding centre, athletics track and more). Laboratories include the Laboratoire d'optique appliquée (Centre de l'Yvette), the Unité de mécanique, the Unité de mathématiques appliquées, the Unité d'informatique et d'ingénierie des systèmes, the Unité de chimie et procédés and the Unité d'économie appliquée. The media library holds more than 12,000 books, 7,000 electronic journals and about sixty printed journals, with four group-work rooms and 100 seats.
• Brest (Bretagne): 2 rue François Verny, 29806 Brest Cedex 09. The 7-hectare campus is 10 minutes from the city centre and has lecture rooms and amphitheatres, a student residence of about 200 rooms and studios, a restaurant, a gymnasium and multisport hall, an athletics track, football and rugby pitch, tennis court, a student foyer (Foy'z), club spaces, an incubator with many maritime projects and a project space with 3D printers and machine tools. Experimental facilities include a hydrographic launch, robots, test basins and multi-scale measurement machines. The media library covers more than 400 m² with more than 12,000 books and several thousand electronic journals and e-books.
• International offshore campuses: ENIT Tunis and SPEIT Shanghai.